At what point can documentation control impact safety in the office or on the job site?

“Flight Standards has a well-deserved reputation for meeting the strictest criteria for document management and control.  However, stakeholders began providing feedback to the department saying that it was becoming increasingly difficult to locate operations manuals and supporting documentation on the Flight Standards intranet site,” said Ian Kinsey, Manager of Regulatory & Flight Publications, CHC Flight Standards.

All the relevant documents were stored on a CHC corporate intranet site so the challenge was to re-engineer the site to create a simplified but controlled flow of regulatory documentation while at the same time enhancing security, accountability and traceability. “Ensuring current documents and information are available is an essential element of CHC’s Safety Management System,” said Kinsey.

To rectify the situation, CHC’s Flight Standards regulatory and flight publications team of Kinsey, Ricardo Mrsic and Vicky Twyford, along with David Acton, decided to re-engineer the entire Flight Standards intranet site.

“Addressing the issue of control, accessibility, and accountability, the Working site is limited to those directly involved in the development of the operations manuals and supporting documentation,” said Kinsey. “Then, when a document is completed and requires AOC approval, it’s moved to the Submitted site where access is strictly limited to stakeholders who are directly authorized to submit documents to their authority.”

Finally documentation progresses to the Approved site where currently authorized and digitally signed documents are available to everyone within the CHC domain.
The newly organized process flow of the Flight Standards SharePoint site more than meets the original challenge to improve functionality and facilitate an effective, meaningful flow of information and access to resources.

“The Flight Standards Portal is evolutionary, more transparent, and increasingly efficient with regard to how documentation and information is approved and communicated,” said Kinsey.

The testament to the portal’s success is stakeholder satisfaction. How is that measured?

“Simple,” Kinsey said. “Since the Flight Standards portal was implemented there have been zero complaints. We are communicating the information and controlling the documentation so that it is accessible, shared and meets SMS standards.”

For new SMS stories each month, visit www.chc.ca.